Mujahideen and FSA storm jointly Alawite barracks in Aleppo

Syria. Jabhat al-Nusra together with the rebels storm Alawites. Fightings in Aleppo are taking place under the command of the Mujahideen, writes UmmaNews.

Islamic sources reported about a major operation carried out by the Mujahideen of Jabhat al-Nusra in Aleppo jointly with brigades al-Fajr al-Islam, Kataeb Ahrar al-Sham, Liwa al-Tawhid and Liwa al-Fatah, who are believed to be affiliated with the rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

Sources from Syria reported that the Mujahideen of Jabhat al-Nusra together with allied groups stormed the Hanano barracks of Alawites in Aleppo, which lead to Islamic fighters seizing control of 70% of the site.

The assault on the barracks was launched from several directions. The Hanano base is, in fact, a den for various Alawite armed gangs, who are involved in the shelling of Aleppo, and al-Assad's Shabiha militiamen are, also, based there.

It has been reported that Mujahedeen of Jabhat al-Nusra have been successfully operating anti-air defenses in Aleppo and that the Mujahideen are utilizing anti-aircraft guns of various calibers.

Sources confirm that the operation was conducted in coordination with the rebel battalions. The video referring to this operation is posted on YouTube.

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According to AFP, the Hanano base is used as an armory, call-center and headquarters of local security structures of Alawite regime.

Today, the Alawites announced that they had recaptured the base.

The fact that the Jabhat al-Nusra carries out joint operations with groups such as al-Fajr al-Islam, Kataeb Ahrar al-Sham, Liwa al-Tawhid and Liwa al-Fatah, which are believed to be part of the rebel's Free Syrian Army, is very telling.

Previously, the AFP reported that the Islamic brigade, Liwa al-Tawhid, is in control of most of the insurgent activity in Aleppo.

At the same time as that report, on 5 September the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News posted a photo in one of their news articles of the commander of Liwa al-Tawhid, Abd al-Qadir Salih, with a flag of the FSA in the background during an press conference with the media.

It is to be recalled that recently the rebel al-Qaaqaa Brigade swore an oath of allegiance to Jabhat al-Nusra and refused to fight under the banner of democracy and secularism.

The National Post pointed out in one of its articles the growing influence of the supporters of Sharia in Syria, in general, and, in particular, in Aleppo. This worried the US administration, which actually does not know what steps to take in this situation, because, before that, Washington had bet on Syria's secular forces coming to power.

"Opposition leaders assured us that they were vigilant and do not want to deal with al-Qaeda or with violent extremists", the State Department "counter terrorism" coordinator Daniel Benjamin told the reporters.

However, only FSA pro-democracy leaders are of that opinion. As for ordinary fighters, they are inclined to deal with the Mujahideen.

Department of Monitoring